Published: October 21, 2026
MONROVIA — National champion Joseph Gegeh will lead more than 30 Liberian players at the 16th Africa Senior Scrabble Championship, which Liberia hosts for the first time Oct. 22-25 at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town.
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Gegeh, who won the National Scrabble Association of Liberia’s 2025 annual championship, will headline the home team alongside Malek Sherif, Ketlee Weah, Lemuel Gibson, Roland Boykai and sports journalist Benjamin Gbarkpah.
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The tournament is expected to draw more than 120 of Africa’s leading Scrabble players from about 24 countries, giving Liberia a chance to test itself against the continent’s established Scrabble powers.
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Gegeh earned his place at the front of Liberia’s challenge with his performance at the 2025 national championship, where he won 22 of his 27 matches to finish first among 28 competitors.
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He won his first 10 matches on the opening day and extended the streak to 14. That run broke Gabriel Potter’s record of 10 consecutive wins, set in 2021.
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Gegeh finished the competition with a spread of plus 1,930.
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Sherif, who finished second at the 2024 national championship, went 17-10 in 2025 with a spread of plus 610. Weah also went 17-10 but finished behind him on spread, at plus 532.
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Gibson, the 2024 national champion, finished eighth in 2025 at 15-12, the same record as Gbarkpah, who placed ninth.
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Nigeria Leads African Challenge
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Liberia will face a formidable challenge from Nigeria, which has dominated the Africa Senior Scrabble Championship since the competition began in Kenya in 1994.
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Nigeria has won 14 of the 15 previous editions. The only exception was South Africa’s Trevor Hovelmeier in 2002.
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Nigeria’s Oluwatimilehin Doko won the most recent championship, in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2024.
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The Nigerian delegation of about 30 players arrived in Liberia Tuesday. It is led by Abdulmumuni Jimoh, one of the country’s leading players and a prominent figure in African Scrabble.
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Jimoh knows Monrovia. He won ScrabbleMania 3.0 in the Liberian capital in 2025.
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Kenya’s delegation of about 24 people, including 15 players sponsored by the Kenyan government, has also arrived.
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Continental Body Praises Liberia’s Preparations
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Pan African Scrabble Association President Adekoyejo Adegbesan said he was satisfied with Liberia’s preparations. He credited the Ministry of Youth and Sports and its work with the national association, including help redesigning the championship banner and organizing the tournament.
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“Liberia is ready to host, and I think we’ll have the best tournament yet,” he said.
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The national association thanked Youth and Sports Minister Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah for her support. It said the government, through her ministry, contributed more than US$40,000, about 80% of the tournament’s budget. The association described its engagement with a sitting youth and sports minister as a milestone for the federation.
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